1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for nobbing and gutting fish, comprising an endless conveyor carrying fish troughs to receive fish lying on their sides, cutting tools arranged adjacent the head ends of said troughs and adapted to cut into the fish from both sides of their backbones closely behind their collar bones, and means for retaining the bodies of the fish by their head ends during the extraction of the entrails and arranged downstream of said cutting tools when seen in the conveying direction of said troughs.
2. Description of Prior Art
British Pat. No. 673 398 discloses a machine for cleaning fish in which a pair of stationary knives for cutting into the fish from both sides of their backbones closely behind the head is arranged adjacent the head ends of the troughs of an endless conveyor for conveying fish lying on their sides, these knives lying in a vertical plane and converging with their cutting edges. Downstream of the troughs when seen in the conveying direction there is provided a plate for retaining the fish in the troughs while the heads are being extracted. At its lower edge this plate is provided with a recess for the passage of the entrails of fish.
This machine is designed as a nobbing machine for decapitating and cleaning herrings of uniform size. It is possible to adapt the height of the plate manually according to varying thicknesses and thus sizes of the fish. However, this machine shows the disadvantage that the recess of the plate is too small for the passage of a well-filled gullet or stomach of predatory fish. If the recess is made larger the plate will not be able to retain the bodies of smaller fish so that these may slip underneath the plate without being held in the troughs. In addition, it is disadvantageous that when retaining a fish the plate will only engage the upper edge of it, which may be of particular negative effect in the case of soft fish.
3. Object of the Invention
It is one of the main objects of the invention to improve the known machine in a manner suited to avoid its disadvantages and to enable the cleaning of fish of varying consistencies and sizes as well as of different species without necessitating any manual adjustment or re-adjustment.